Unexpected Grace
by xXZero CoolXx
Summary: In which Severus Snape most emphatically does NOT fall in love with young golden boys and Harry Potter most emphatically does NOT fall in love with his professors. SSHP RLHP and one sided DMHP Harry prepares to fight Voldemort. Guess who's there to help?
1. Late Night Meetings

This is a random idea, sparked in a note my friend and I had while we were still in school. I think, personally, it has potential. I know there are not a whole lot of Harry/Sev fans out there, but I LOVE the pairing. I hope this becomes a smash hit! And I PROMISE not to falter at the end like with Simply Irresistible. Which, BTW, will be edited and revised at some point this summer. Also, if people review that they want it, I'll make a sequel. Anyway. Enjoy my lovlies! P.S. My friend issued me a challenge. She wanted me to fit the line "You've just been NAVIGATED!" into the story. So don't freak when you read it lol.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS/SETTINGS IN THIS FIC! I just use and manipulate them for my own sick, twisted enjoyment ;D

Unexpected Grace

Chapter One

Late Night Meetings

A lithe boy with a small, muscular build, and raven black hair padded through one of the many silent corridors of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, the only sound accompanying him the sound of his light footfalls and his slight puffs of breathing. Possibly the most extraordinary thing about this boy, aside from his dazzling emerald eyes, was the lightening-bolt shaped scar, which stood out rather visibly on his finely-tanned forehead.

The many torches lining the walls flickered and danced and he dashed silently by, changing for but a second before going back to normal, leaving no evidence that anyone had been there at all. He turned a corner and dashed into a hallway that was completely black. Not faltering for a moment, he took out a long, thin piece of wood and muttered something under his breath. A bright blue light erupted from the end of it, but he seemed to take no notice, continuing on his path stealthily. He seemed to be headed for a door at the end of the passage, and his heartbeat sped up as he neared it.

Yes, he was going to make it. Just a few more steps and-

"Potter!"

Shite.

Harry Potter turned around slowly, desperately hoping that he would not see what he thought was there. No such luck. Some days, it REALLY didn't pay to be Harry Potter.

"Malfoy.." He said, defeated, as he finally turned fully around to face the pale boy with white blonde hair and stormy grey eyes.

Draco Malfoy smirked maliciously at his arch enemy from the other end of the hallway. Perfect.

Slowly, he began to stalk towards Harry, a purely predatory grin etched onto his aristocratic features.

"Brave little lion to wander so openly into the snake pit.." He purred, only about four steps away now.

Harry's eyes darted helplessly back and forth along the hallway, looking for en escape rout. Too late! Malfoy was now so close that Harry had to back up, only to be backed into the cold stone wall behind him. Malfoy's grin widened and Harry's heart stopped.

Shite.

It had only just then occurred to Harry that he DID have a wand, but before he could raise it, Malfoy, as if reading his thoughts, snatched it out of his hand and threw it to the side, the light slowly flickering, then vanishing.

And then Malfoy put one arm on either side of Harry's head, leaning until they were so close their noses touched.

Harry blanched when Malfoy leaned all the way in a took a deep breath of his neck, seemingly SNIFFING him, before he felt something warm and wet slide from his collarbone to his jaw.

"M-Malfoy! Stop it!" Harry gasped, but Malfoy only chuckled before sliding his hand under Harry shirt.

"You've just been NAVIGATED Potter!"( Challenge)Malfoy whispered into Harry's ear, then chuckled, reaching lower with his wandering hand.

Harry would have laughed at the idiocy of the comment, if the situation was not so serious. Malfoy's hand should NOT be there!

"Malfoy! I said STOP IT!" Harry yelled, trying, and failing, to push Malfoy off. He really was not that strong..

"Potter! WHAT is the meaning of-" Harry looked up at the shocked expression his potions master's face, and thought that he would NEVER be happier to see one Severus Snape in his life.

Snape stared at the boys with an unreadable expression for a few minutes, before shrewdly yanking Malfoy off of Harry. "Uncle Sev! What gives?" Malfoy yelled at the stony professor. NO ONE spoiled his fun!

"Mr. Malfoy, I do not think your father would appreciate you...inspecting the trash." Snape sneered at Harry. Surprisingly, Harry did not glare at him, but flashed him a most brilliant smile, a look of pure relief on every inch of his face.

Malfoy shrugged Snape off and marched away, not sparing the two of them a second glance.

Harry waited until Malfoy turned the corner leading to the Slytherin dorms, before pushing himself away from the wall and beginning to walk away. But he turned around not two steps later and flashed his potions professor another brilliant smile. "Thanks, Professor." He said, before continuing his trudge down the hall.

"Potter!" Harry heard the voice when he was naught but half-way down the corridor, and strongly considered ignoring it.

He decided against it, however, seeing as the man had LITERALLY saved his arse.

So, gritting his teeth, he turned around, only to see something dark flying at his face. Fortunately, he had been playing quidditch for five years and two months and had brilliant reflexes.

Catching it only just before it hit his face, he examined it more closely, only to realize that it was his invisibility cloak. Upon even closer examination, he realized that his wand was wrapped securely within its folds as well. He had almost forgotten!

"Professor Dumbledore felt you might need that.." Snape said quietly, before retreating back into his office, diminishing the only light that had graced the corridors since his wand had been thrown.

Harry grinned and turned back around. He knew that was a lie. Dumbledore had told him he would have to go to Snape himself and ask NICELY if he wanted his cloak back. Hence the reason he was sneaking into his office at 1:oo a.m., fully confident in his thoughts that Snape would not be there. He was suddenly VERY glad that he was wrong.

Harry threw the cloak around him and was almost immediately engulfed in a most delectable smell. Cinnamon, sweat, and something rather heady, but pleasant none-the-less. The mixture of smells was nearly intoxicating. He wondered where it came from. Certainly, he had never smelt it on Snape. Then again, he had never really been close enough to the man TO smell him.

He closed his eyes, still walking, and tried to think if he recognized the scent. However, he only got a few steps before there was a loud smack and a resounding THUMP. He felt a terrible pain in his head, and on his bum. What had happened?

Looking up, he realized that he had run smack into a brick wall.

"Ugh!" He groaned, pushing himself up, only to fall back down again.

"Oh, honestly Potter! You can't even WALK without someone there to hold your hand!" Came the familiar sneering voice from behind him.

Harry looked up groggily, only to see his potions professor looming over him. He looked angry. And a hint of something else. Was it? Could it be? AMUSEMENT?

"It hurts..." Harry groaned, clenching his eyes shut and rubbing his head with one hand, while holding himself in an upright position on the floor with his other.

"Of COURSE it hurts, Potter! What did you expect, running into a brick wall like that?" Snape practically snarled.

"Shhh! Don't yell." Harry groaned.

"Alright, up you get." Came Snape's voice, though it was much closer now. Harry suddenly felt a firm hand unto his arm and he was pulled to his feet quickly.

All the blood was rushing around in his body from such a quick change in position and his vision blurred momentarily, before he fell into Snape's warm chest. He took a deep breath. It WAS his scent! How delectable!

Harry, not thinking quite right due to the smack on his head, nuzzled closer to the warmth and smell or the chest pressed against his face.

It was only when Snape yanked him off, holding him at arms length that Harry realized what had just occurred. Oops.

Before he could apologize, or say anything at all for that matter, he was dragged into his professor's office, thrown roughly into a chair, supplied with a potion to clear his head and rid him of his headache, and back up in his dorm, lying on his bed. It all happened so fast that Harry was sure the world had been going in fast-forward.

He didn't dwell on it much, though. He was simply too tired. He fell almost right asleep, unconsciously holding the cloak close to his face so he could breath in the smell. It really was a delectable smell.

OK! That's all she wrote! Well...I wrote. I shall update, ASAP! But I'd like to get at least ONE review, ok?

P.S. It seems people are getting confused with the like "That's all she wrote!", so I'm adding this note. (Haha..it Rhymes..) When I say "That's all she wrote!" I do not mean that I did not write it myself! I mean that that is all there is! As in, no more! It's an expression. I only assumed that people would know this! I apologize for any confusion! Thanks you!


	2. new developments

Okaaaay! Thanks for the reviews guyz! I love them! And so many for a first chapter too! I'm so happy:tear: Sorry it took so long to update! I've been busy with friends and family issues and such! I apologize! I KNOW this is only six pages but ya. I need to do some things and I don't want to lose my readers cuz I take so long to update!

Disclaimer: blah blah blah I don't own them! I don't own the movie French Kiss, either. Where this line was taken from: 'You ever have one of those dreams that are so wonderful, you wake up completely refreshed? Like you've been given new life! I can't remember the dream, but I know it was fabulous'

Unexpected Grace

Chapter Two

New developments

Long, thin, pale fingers. Caressing. Guiding. Loving.

Whispered promises of eternal love, eternal happiness.

Warm, sweet breath ghosting over his skin. A pair of warm, thin lips inching closer to his own. Four words whispered before the lips descend on his and all is lost.

"I love you, Harry."

Harry woke up, gasping for air. Drenched in a cold sweat. WHAT a dream! Harry tried to hold onto the dream, to grasp the face of the man-for surely hands like those could belong to no woman-who had promised eternal love and happiness. He tried to, but could not. Harry sighed, and looked down at the Invisibility cloak he was still clinging to. He looked at it questioningly, before getting up and stuffing it into his trunk.

He got back into bed and once more tried to remember the dream-man. How unlucky he was to forget something so wonderful!

So he lain back down to drift into a pleasant, but, unfortunately, dreamless sleep.

"What's go you so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning?" Ron asked, mildly disgusted with his friend's behavior so early in the morning.

"You ever have one of those dreams that are so wonderful, you wake up completely refreshed? Like you've been given new life! I can't remember the dream, but I know it was fabulous!" Harry sighed, trying to recall what he had been dreaming about that had left him in such a wonderful state of mind.

Ron groaned and tucked into his breakfast. Hermione laughed and gave Harry a short one-armed hug from his other side, grinning. "It's good to see you in such a wonderful mood, Harry! It's a nice change!" Hermione stated, glaring slightly at Ron before digging into her eggs.

Harry grinned and started work on his waffles and whipped cream. Today was going to be a wonderful day.

Of course, it was only AFTER breakfast that he remembered they had double potions with the Slytherins for their first class. He seriously contemplated weather or not he should skip his first class, in order to keep his wonderful mood. Of course, Snape, having made sure he was in perfect health the night before, would not be fooled by some half-arse excuse. And Hermione would hear none of it, as much as she wanted her friend to hold onto his happy mood.

So, resigned, Harry trudged down to the dungeons with Ron-now in a decidedly more cheerful mood. Harry could not decide if it were the breakfast, or the fact that Hermione had given his a kiss on the cheek when she found out he had done his Potions essay all by himself.-and Hermione, desperately hoping that Snape would have fallen off a cliff. Or maybe he got eaten by the giant squid. Or maybe fluffy got hold of him. Any of those options were desirable. Maybe death was a LITTLE too harsh, now that he thought about it. The man HAD saved him twice in one night. Maybe just light torture..

Harry grinned at his thoughts. He really could be rather nasty when he wanted to.

Harry did not look around him as he took his usual seat in-between Ron and Hermione. He didn't look up, either when the door opened and slammed shut. Great. He was in another one of his foul moods. Harry REALLY didn't expect any different. He just HOPED. It never hurt to hope, did it?

"Take out your books and turn to page 394." came a very stern voice.

Harry's head snapped up when he realized the voice he heard did NOT belong to Severus Snape. In fact, it did not belong to a man at all.

The woman standing at the front of the class was tall, and had no shape at all, it seemed. She had fair skin, and long pretty black hair. She looked stern, but possessed a kind of beauty that is to hard to explain. It was like when you see something that you feel sure could be described as ugly, but, at the same time, immensely beautiful. Harry already found her fascinating.

"Yes, Mr..?" Harry turned to see whom she was looking at and saw Malfoy, looking snobby as ever, holding up his hand and grinning.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He said in his usual "Superior" drawl, and the teacher sneered.

"What was your question Mister Malfoy.." The teacher asked. She obviously was not impressed by the Malfoy name.

Draco's face fell slightly when he realized he was not going to be worshiped as he expected. "I was wondering where Professor Snape has gone to..?" He asked, and everyone turned expectantly to the woman at the front of the class.

"Professor Snape has found himself...indisposed for the time being. That is all I'm telling you and I expect to hear no more questions on the matter. I will be here for merely 2 or 3 days, depending on how well he recovers. No more questions now, unless they have to do with the potion we are brewing. Now. Your instructions are on the board, get started." After that, she sat down gracefully behind Snape's desk and everyone got to work.

It was in the very last 30 minutes in class that Harry's potion turned a very odd color indeed and started to boil over. He didn't get it. His potion had been going wonderfully just before he'd left to get a few ingredients from the storage cupboard.

He heard Malfoy sniggering behind him and turned to glare.

"Harry! Move!" Hermione pushed Harry out of the way just in time for the potion to explode, covering Malfoy, Blaise, and Goyle in a sticky, purple-ish brown-ish yellow-ish colored mess that smelt faintly of 2-year-old bananas.

Harry and Hermione looked up from their positions on the floor and began to laugh hysterically with the rest of the class.

"Ms. Winston! Ms. Winston! Potter has EXPLODED his potion ALL OVER me!" Malfoy practically screamed.

Ms. Isabella Winston walked swiftly over to Draco's table and leaned down so she was face-to-face with Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy. I suggest you and your.." at this she looked at Blaise and Goyle and sneered. "Comrades..Go take a nice, hot shower. As for Mr. Potter.." She whipped around and looked down at Harry briefly, before waving her wand at the mess. It disappeared and Harry's heart sank. Another failure..

"Mr. Malfoy. How is your potion coming along?" Ms. Winston asked and Malfoy grinned.

"It's done. And absolutely flawless!" Malfoy smirked.

"Good." Ms. Winston waved her wand at Malfoy's cauldron and his potion disappeared, only to re-appear in Harry's caldron.

"What the hell do-" Malfoy began to protest, but Ms. Winston held up a hand to silence him.

"Mr. Malfoy I am not sure as to what you get away with in Professor Snape's class, but I can tell you this: You will not get away with sabotaging another student's potion in MY class! You are 16 years old! I expect you to act that way! Now. Everyone is to bottle up a sample of their potion and set it on my desk for grading. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, and Mr. Goyle, you all shall receive T's on this potion and will join me tonight and tomorrow night for detention. Class dismissed."

Malfoy looked absolutely shell-shocked. The sight was highly amusing. Malfoy, Goyle, and Zabini all standing there, covered in a terribly smelly and ugly mess, staring at one-another, completely and utterly dumbfounded. Malfoy had NEVER been treated with such disrespect!

Harry grinned as he bottled up Malfoy's potion and set it on the desk. He did feel a little bad taking Malfoy's potion, but his would have been perfect too if it weren't for the little prat. Ms. Winston smiled slightly at him as he packed his bags, and he thanked her as he, Hermione, and Ron left the class together.

So maybe his good mood wasn't ruined after all.

"I like that woman. Good morals!" Ron stated happily as they headed towards Care of Magical Creatures.

"Honestly Ronald! You only like her because she told Malfoy off!" Hermione huffed. "Though, I have to admit, it was a wonderful change having her around instead of Snape. Did you notice that Neville's potion was nearly perfect? It was a BIT off color but it was HARDLY noticeable."

"I wonder what happened to Snape, though?" Harry voiced the question that had been nagging at the back of his mind all lesson. "I mean, he's never missed a class. Ever. It's weird that he's suddenly missing..."

"WHY do you care? Honestly Harry! You should be HAPPY that he's not here! You're acting as if you're actually CONCERNED for the greasy git!" Ron chided and Hermione gave off a noise of disgust.

"I agree with Harry. It's very strange.." She said, looking thoughtful.

"And besides, Ron. I don't HATE him. He can be nasty, I know. But he's saved my life on more than one occasion and, when they're not directed at you, his remarks can be pretty funny. You have to admit it. I've seen you laugh at some of his comments towards other students." And Harry really felt that way. He respected Snape. If only a little. It was just hard to like someone when they hated you for a mistake you didn't even make..

"Ugh! Harry. Next thing you know, you'll be telling me you're in love with the git!" Ron laughed, draping an arm around Harry's shoulder and grinning.

Harry shrugged Ron off. "Oh haha. Very funny Ronald!" Harry said mockingly, mimicking Hermione and Mrs. Weasley wonderfully.

They laughed happily, forgetting, for the time being, about Snape and Malfoy and everything else. It was going to be a wonderful day.

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"Mr. Potter." Professor Flitwick's tiny voice called from the front of the class.

"Yes, Professor?" Harry asked, looking up and smiling at the little man standing on a stack of books to make him taller.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office." Professor Flitwick said, motioning towards the door.

"Oooohhh! Somebody's in trouble!" Seamus, Dean, and Ron all exclaimed and Harry shot them a mock-dirty glare, before smiling and gathering his things.

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Harry stood outside the door to Dumbledore's office, after spending at LEAST 20 minutes trying to figure out the password. Honestly. Why was it no one ever TOLD him the password, before sending him up here?

He knocked twice and the door opened for him.

"You wanted to see me pr-" Harry stopped as he noticed who was sitting in the room. He rubbed his eyes and stared on in disbelief.

"S-Sirius?" He chocked and Sirius smiled weakly, nodding and holding out his arms.

Harry ran into them, nearly knocking them both to the floor, and locked his arms around his back, feeling tears pricking at his eyes.

"Oh god. Sirius..I thought...I thought.." Harry began, but chocked on his tears and just started to sob into the man's chest.

"Shhh. I know, Harry. I know.." Sirius whispered, his voice raspy, and hoarse.

After Harry had calmed down a bit, Dumbledore cleared his throat, and Harry looked up to see the man smiling brightly, his eyes twinkling. Harry thought he could have kissed the man right then and there. And he did. He let go of Sirius for a moment, ans walked around Dumbledore's desk, and pulled him into a tight hug, kissing the old man gently on the cheek.

"Thank you.." he whispered and Dumbledore chuckled, returning the hug, before pushing Harry lightly off and motioning for him to go sit next to Sirius on the plush purple couch in the middle of the room.

It was only as Harry was headed towards the couch that he realized there was another man in the room.

He looked at the man slightly, confused, before recognition dawned on his face.

"P-Professor Snape?(!)" He asked, exasperated. The man was, indeed Severus Snape. But he looked...different..younger. He still had the same mass of fine, straight black hair, and the same slightly-larger-than-normal nose, and the same glittering black eyes. But his skin was less wrinkled, and his features were tighter. He still looked exactly the same. Just younger.

Harry surveyed the man with wide eyes for a minute, before going to sit on the couch next to a decidedly thinner and dirtier Sirius, looking at Dumbledore, his eyes demanding an explanation.

This was turning out to be a very odd day indeed.

Ok! Let me explain! Sevvie has GOT to be like 25 years older than Harry, right? Well, how is that gonna work? Harry will still be slightly young and Sevvie will be DYING. No no no! I can't have that. So, even though I don't like it myself when pplz change the characters, I want to make them a little closer. Snape will be like...I dunno. 23? And he still LOOKS the same and all. He's just younger. I'm sorry people! But I want it to work a little better, ok? I'm so sorry! Review plz!


	3. Lessons and Explanations

_**Welllll. Not as many reviews as I would have liked but oh well! I shall write on! WHEE! It's how I get better, see? lol. But seriously, even if you don't like the story, just review to give me some pointers, ya? I mean, not something evil and mean, but some suggestions on how to improve would be nice! Anyway! Thanks for those of you who DID review! I should like to name you all off but my computer sux and is going REALLY slow. Maybe I should write down all my reviewer's names once I read them O.O Hm. Anywayz. On with the almost-liked story...BTW, I'm sorry it's taken so long to update! wouldn't let be upload any documents onto the computer for the last THREE days!**_

_**Unexpected Grace**_

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Lessons and Explanations**_

"Potter! You're supposed to stir COUNTER-clockwise! Do you WANT to explode your potion yet AGAIN?" Harry sighed despairingly and looked up at his now 23-year-old potions professor. Even after a whole two weeks of seeing the man like this, it still astounded Harry to no end to see how different, yet the same, his potions professor looked.

He had the same not-so-normally-sized nose, and the same onyx eyes. He also had the same, pale, almost creamy skin tone. His hair was the same fine, lanky, black mop that it had always been. But he was no longer haunted by his age. His skin was no longer baggy, or wrinkly. It was taught and smooth, clinging to his features wonderfully. He was, by no means, an overly attractive man. He simply held his own uniqueness in such a way that, if one looked closely enough, could be described as beautiful.

Harry was snapped out of his reverie when he realized the man on his mind was currently residing right in front of him, glaring his trademark 'you're incompetence is infuriating' glare.

"Potter! Pay attention!" Snape snapped and Harry just gazed at him with a very confused and thoughtful expression on his face, still stirring clockwise.

"Oh for the love of-" Snape cut himself off and walked around to stand behind Harry "Like THIS Potter!"

Harry gasped out loud when Snape's body pressed flush against his own, and his hand came around to cover the one he was stirring with. As Snape forced Harry's hand to stir the 'right' way, Harry's confused mind tried to work out what to do. He didn't know weather to be mortified, or cry, or get angry, or blush. He settled for a little bit of the first and last.

AS Snape moved away, Harry gave an entirely involuntary sigh of relief and JUST remembered to keep stirring the way Snape had taught him.

After about half an hour, his potion was supposed to simmer for 15 minutes, and Harry was extremely grateful for the break. He sat back in his chair, kicking his legs up onto the table- only to have Snape push them off again- and let his mind wander.

;:;flashback;:;

"Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore offered and Harry glared at the offered tin of yellow candies. Sometimes that man could REALLY get on his nerves.

"Enough with the niceties, Professor! I want to know what is going on here!" Harry snapped, a little too harshly, then muttered a small "sorry". He didn't mean to be so mean to the old coot. He was just confused and frustrated and did not want to deal with Dumbledore scooting around the subject, as was his usual way of going about explaining things.

"Ungrateful little wretch.." Snape mumbled from the corner. Harry just shot him a dirty look over the back of the couch and turned back to Dumbledore expectantly.

"Alright my boy. I won't..ah..how do you say it? 'Beat around the tree'?" Dumbledore asked and Harry nearly laughed. Nearly. "Ahem. Well. Yes. I suppose, first of all, I should tell you that we have no REAL explanation as to why Severus has turned out like this. There are many speculations. Each of them as unlikely as the next. You see, ever since Sirius here fell down the Veil, We have been researching tirelessly, trying to figure out where it lead to. Unfortunately, we didn't exactly figure that out.

"What we DID figure out was that it was possible to retrieve him. You see, wherever he was, time almost came to a halt. So, where it seemed to us to be almost a year, to him, it was only a matter of seconds. Do you understand, Harry?" Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued "Well, I didn't know how exactly I was going to get him out. Only that I could. And I presented my dilemma to Severus and Minerva, and Severus had a most wonderful idea. Impetus Momentum. Do you know what that is, Harry? It's a potion that allows one to move at such accelerated speeds, that the rest of the world seems motionless. We decided that, seeing as THAT world was so slow, with this potion, the world would be moving at, what we consider to be, a normal pace.

"Severus brewed the potion, and, when it came time to go and retrieve Sirius, he decided to do it himself. A brilliant sacrifice, considering we didn't even know if it would work. When they emerged from the veil, Severus took the antidote to the potion, Rallentare Momentum. While I was taking care of Sirius, Minerva was staring in open shock at Severus here. Needless to say, when I turned around to see him standing there, not looking a day over 23, I was rather shocked. The best explanation we could come up with was that, somehow, the mix of Impetus Momentum and the effects of the veil caused him to regress. Aging potions did not work. Nor did aging spells. We don't know how to explain it." Dumbledore stopped here, as Harry stared at him, looking deep in thought.

"So.." Harry said after awhile and everyone in the room turned to look at him with interest. "So Snape..Professor Snape..He saved Sirius?" It was all he could comprehend for the time being. SNAPE had saved Sirius. Snape was the main reason he had his only family back. Harry suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of gratitude and respect for the man.

"Yes, Harry. Severus saved Sirius.." Dumbledore said and Harry looked at him with glazed eyes.

Harry shook his head after a moment and got up. He walked over to the man standing in the dark corner of the room and stood in front of him. Harry took a deep breath and held out his hand. "Thank you." He said.

Though the gesture was simple, it was not lost on any of the men in the room. Snape took Harry's hand, half-expecting him to change his mind and curse him instead. He didn't. They shook hands and Snape noted that Harry had a very firm grip. He looked into the boy's eyes and saw something in that gaze he'd never seen there before. At least not directed at him. Respect. Gratitude. An offer of friendship. Or at least a truce.

Harry let go, but did not move away from Snape. Instead, he studied the man's face a little bit, before jumping at him and embracing him in a tight, but brief hug. No more words escaped his lips. No more thanks. But that one hug said it all.

After Harry was seated again, he rested his head on Sirius's shoulder and the man began to stroke his hair comfortingly.

"Ahem." Dumbledore said, reminding Harry painfully of one Dolores Umbridge, before starting up the conversation once more. "Yes. Well." he said, barely able to contain the smile on his face, his eyes twinkling madly. "On to other matters. You will be taking some extra classes this year, Harry. Individual studies, so to speak. Twice every week you will take advanced potions with Professor Snape, so you can learn potions that will be helpful to you in your...adventures. Professor McGonagall will be helping you with your animagus transformation. It will come in very useful during the war. Professor Lupin will be helping you with advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. And Sirius will be helping you with your dueling skills." Harry's head snapped up at that, a disbelieving grin etched onto his face. Sirius was staying here! "And I will be helping you with Occlumency. I'm afraid the only constant classes you will have will be with Severus, and Minerva. Every Monday and Friday you will have a class with Professor Snape. Every Wednesday you will have a class with Professor McGonagall. On Tuesdays Sirius and Remus will take turns with their lessons. Thursdays are when you have your Quidditch practice, correct? Well on Sundays you will have lessons with me. But not every Sunday. I find my schedule to be rather...erratic."

;:; End Flashback ;:;

Which was how Harry had ended up here, sitting with Professor Snape, ALONE, in the dungeons, on a Monday night at 9:45 in the evening.

He still didn't see how he was going to pull off all these extra lessons PLUS homework and studying for the end of year exams. He had vaguely wondered if perhaps he would be given a time-turner. Of course THAT wasn't going to happen. Dumbledore said that the teachers would be lenient with him on his homework (which he HIGHLY doubted) and that, with all he was going to learn, studying would no longer be necessary. He doubted that almost as much as he doubted Snape being lenient with him.

"Potter! It's time to add the lacewing flies! Up!" Harry glared at nothing in particular, as he got up and began pinching his crushed lacewing flies into his potion. Snape may LOOK a little better but his personality, if anything, had gotten worse.

Harry waited for a minute while the new ingredient mixed itself in, and took the time to study his young professor some more. He had been so excited to see his classmates reactions that morning. He couldn't WAIT to see the looks on their faces.

He was to be disappointed, however, as it turned out Snape was planning on using a glamour charm around everyone but Harry, Dumbledore, Sirius, and McGonagall.

Now that he thought about it, though, he felt somewhat special to be one of the few people who got to see him like this.

Harry stirred his potion for 20 more minutes, before it was complete.

"Professor! It's complete!" Harry said, only AFTER he'd checked that he hadn't missed anything, of course. It had only then occurred to Harry that he didn't know WHAT potion he had made. He had been too lost in thought when snape was giving the directions to listen to the name and function.

Snape walked over and examined it from over his shoulder. WHY did he have to keep leaning over him like that? It was driving him mad!

"Hold out your hand, Potter." Snape said, and Harry turned around to face him, only to have his nose pressed fully into Snape's neck.

Snape was saying something again. But he didn't comprehend a word of it. Oooooh. That smell again. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Wonderful.

"Potter! Stop that THIS instant! Potter! Are you even listening to me? POTTER!" Rough hands on his shoulders, pushing him away. Harry looked up at his young professor with glazed-over eyes. Why had the smell gone? WHERE had it gone?

Oh. Oops. He'd done it again. Shite.

Harry blushed furiously and suddenly found that, yes, the floor was a VERY interesting spectacle.

"Sorry.." he mumbled and he could just FEEL Snape glaring. He didn't look up though. Oh no. He was FAR to embarrassed for that!

"Yes. Ahem. Well." Was it just Harry's imagination or did his voice sound rather shaky? "Hold out your hand, Potter." Snape said and Harry did so without looking up.

His head snapped up and he yanked his hand back as he felt something cold and sharp meet his skin. Snape was holding a knife. He had tried to CUT him!

Harry backed up, his eyes wide with fear.

"It's ok, Potter. I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to cut you to see how well your potion works. No need tp make a huge deal out of it. It'll be ok. Trust me." Snape said, stepping closer to him and reaching out for his hand.

Trust me. Trust me. Those words echoed in Harry's mind. Trust Snape? Did he really want to do that?

After a moment, Harry decided that, yes, he did. He trusted Snape. So he held out his hand and Snape took it in his own gently.

The feel of Snape's skin on his own was like fire. It was wonderful. He had never felt Snape's skin before. So smooth. So soft. Not at all what you would expect from a potions master. With all the chopping he did, and all the times he must burn his hands, it was a miracle that he had any skin LEFT, let alone how smooth and flawless it seemed to be. Harry figured it must have something to do with the de-aging.

Harry didn't even flinch as Snape brought the knife to his skin. It was odd, to watch the knife slide over his flesh, the red blood rising to the surface and running down his hand. He didn't even really feel it. Just saw it as if from a third person's point of view.

Snape gently put down the knife and took a syringe from his pocket, sucking up some of Harry's potion and bringing it back to his bloody hand. He didn't let go of Harry's hand for a second.

Snape pushed out the cool blue liquid onto his cut and Harry watched, amazed, as the cut immediately healed itself. It was a strange feeling, the cut mending itself. It felt...itchy. And tingly. And warm. No, wait. That was Snape's hand under his own.

Harry watched in fascination as Snape took a wet cloth and started to gently wipe the blood from Harry's hand and arm.

They looked at each other for a moment, before Snape dropped his hand and the world's pace went back to normal. It wasn't until he had left the classroom that he realized his heart rate was soaring, his face was flushed, and his breathing was coming in short gasps.

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It all started with his eyes. His dark, sparkling onyx eyes that held so many secrets, so many horrors and sorrows. They were wonderful.

It then moved onto his legs. Long, slim, and graceful. Beautiful. Then, to his hands. Those wonderful hands. Strong, slim, long, and pale. Soft and supple skin.

Then his voice, his silky voice. The voice that could make you quiver in your boots for more than one reason.

Harry never really denied the feelings. He had a crush on his professor. It wasn't un-heard of. He had spent so much time with the man. The young version. He had been in close proximity for hours at a time. It was nearly inevitable.

Harry wondered briefly if, perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that he still felt an over-whelming sense of gratitude towards the man. It was possible, to mistake feelings of gratitude for feelings of...well he didn't know what he was mistaking the feelings for. He didn't feel sexually attracted to the man. More spiritually.

His first dream came after two weeks of lessons. It was a strange dream. He was sitting in the common room with Ron and Hermione, and he and Ron were playing a game of chess, as Hermione read a very large book, abnormally large, actually, looking on in amusement every once in awhile. A normal dream. A nice dream.

Suddenly, it changed. He was in a dark room, sitting on a chair in the middle of it. All he saw were bright red eyes. He heard maniacal laughter, the kind you'd hear in a muggle cartoon when the villain had just done something particularly nasty. A green light and the eyes were gone. Belatedly, he realized the green light had come from him, and from somewhere next to him.

He looked to his left, then to his right, and was not at all shocked to see Snape standing next to him, holding his hand. Snape turned to him and smiled weakly. Odd. He never smiled.

"Severus.." Harry whispered. Severus? Strange, that it didn't feel at all as odd as he'd thought, to use the man's first name.

"Shhh, Harry. It's over.. It's over.." Severus whispered, pulling him into a tight hug.

The dreamed changed again, blurring in a mass of deep purples and reds, then eventually clearing, to settle upon a lake. Not the Hogwarts lake. This one was bigger, and surrounded by cherry blossom trees that were all in bloom. The vibrant pink petals swirled around them, swirled around the altar, and the headmaster. Ron and Hermione smiled at him, as he walked up the aisle. Hagrid beamed and gave him the thumbs up. Minerva looked like she was going to cry.

Minerva? He didn't have time to think about it, as he was now approaching a man with a long black ponytail, tied off at the bottom back of his head with a white ribbon. The man had long, thin legs, and broad shoulders.

Harry approached the Headmaster and his groom, beaming. He turned to the man beside him and was not in the least bit surprised to see Severus Snape smiling at him gently.

Harry had woken up before anything had been said. He'd NEVER forget that dream. Most of it was in such vivid detail. It was like he was really there. Like it was really happening. Sometimes he hated those dreams. Because when he woke up, and turned over to nestle in his new husbands chest, he realized that it wasn't real, and a positively stifling feeling of loss, disappointment, and sadness overwhelmed his senses. It really wasn't fair...

He wondered if it were normal, to be having dreams of marrying your Potions Professor. Whom you've hated for 5 and a half years. Who still hates to you this day. Then again, when was anything in Harry's life normal?

He made a mental note to talk to Ron and Hermione about it. Maybe they could help him a little bit in dissecting the mystery that was his mind. He'd be vague, of course. At least with Ron. Until he'd had time to fully figure out what was going on, he didn't want to deal with Ron's wrath.

_**Alright my lovlies. Longest chapter yet! w00t! Read and review. Reviews make me all warm and fuzzy inside!**_


	4. Puppies and Voices

**Ok 8 months is ENTIRELY inexcusable! I apologize for that and for the fact that my writing is probably ten times worse than it ever was o.O Which is pretty damn bad! Also, I'd like to let you all know that, while it seems I am going rather quickly, in reality I'm taking it kinda slow. I intend to have this fic be my longest yet and not weaken it any. So don't fret XD**

It wasn't completely unheard of for a student to have a crush on a teacher. It was, however, completely and entirely unheard of for a student to have a crush on Severus Snape. Of course, Severus had never before de-aged, saved the only family a student had, or had private lessons with a student before.

He figured the gratitude he felt, plus the close-proximity and his new age, all added up to make Potter feel as if he was infatuated. Well it was all fine and dandy but Severus decided right off, after seeing one of the more-than-G-rated dreams Harry had about him that he would try every trick in the book to get the teen to forget this little crush. It just wouldn't do. He couldn't very well teach him if he was busy day-dreaming about Severus. Besides, the boy should learn to overcome his hormonal problems.

Hormones. Heh. Should be call HORRORmones.

Severus actually chuckled out loud at that one, earning confused and amused looks from his third-year students. Mustering up his best and most frightening glare, he shot it at the students and they all jumped back to work.

Ha. That's what you get. You rotten brats!

You're a right old prat, you know that? Torturing little third-years.

Oh it's you again. Why can't you ever leave me alone?

Because I'm you. Stupid prick.

Don't you dare call ME a prick.

I can call you whatever I want. I'm you. I know you. And you are a PRICK.

Oh great now I'm talking to myself.

You sure are. Not only are you a prick, you're insane.

Oh shut up you!

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It was Tuesday and Harry was practically skipping to his lesson with Remus. He couldn't wait to get some advanced DADA under his belt! Plus he got to spend more time with one of his best friends!

"Good evening Remus!" Harry practically yelled as he burst into Remus' office. He heard something drop and shatter from the other room and a muffled curse. Laughing, Harry entered Remus' quarters and plopped into a chair in the small kitchen.

"Haha, sorry about the Remy!" Harry laughed as Remus waved his wand and the broken coffee cup mended itself.

"Honestly Harry." Remus said with a mock-scornful glare. "Control yourself!"

"Is it MY fault you're getting old and jumpy? I think not!" Harry exclaimed, grinning.

Remus slowly put down the cup and turned to Harry, glaring jokingly at him.

"Old? OLD?! I'll show YOU old you little whipper-snapper!"

Harry yelped and giggled as Remus ran at him. Dashing out of his chair, he sped off through Remus' rather large living room, avoiding the coffee table and hopping over a pile of magazines.

All of a sudden, he heard a great crash, and skidded to a stop. Gasping, he ran back to where Remus had fallen over the coffee table.

"Remy! Remy are you ok?! REMY!"He asked desperately, bending over Remus.

"Boo!" Remus yelled, grabbing Harry and flipping them, effectively pinning Harry to the ground.

"Remy! That's not fair! You scared me!" Harry pouted.

"Aw Snufflet! You were afraid I was hurt? After tripping over a coffee table. I'm not THAT old!" Remus then proceeded to tickle Harry who giggled in a very undignified manner.

"Mooney! Mooney! Aha! S-stop it! Ahahahaha! St-stop! Mooney!" Harry was sure his face was beet red from all the laughing he was doing. Gathering up what little strength he had left, he pushed hard at Remus, flipping them so he was above Remus. "Ha!" Was all he said and Remus grinned up at him. Giving his most vicious smile, Harry began to tickle Remus just as the other had done to him. "Take that!" he exclaimed as Remus writhed and laughed under him.

"Alright alright! Truce! H-harry! Yer gonna haha g-give me a heart attack!" Remus joked and Harry laughed, backing off and getting to his feet.

"Told ya you were old!" Harry said jokingly, laughing and holding out his hand as Remus stuck out his tongue at him. Remus took his hand and they both hauled him to his feet.

"Call me old one more time and you'll be spending the next two weeks in detention with Snape or Filch!" Remus joked.

Harry gave a mock-shiver. "Ooooooh I'm so scared!"

"Alright alright! Enough mucking about. Let's get to work, shall we?"

"Oh sure, ruin all my fun!" Harry said, pouting his lower lip.

"You'll live, I'm sure. So Harry. How much do you know about invisibility charms?" Remus asked, immediately taking up teacher-mode.

"Er. Not a lot. I've had one put on me a couple times but I don't think it was necessarily an invisibility charm." Harry said, trying to recall the name of the charm.

"Yes yes. I remember. No, that was not an invisibility charm. The only invisibility charm in existence has to be self-applied. It's extremely complicated and not only makes you invisible but also makes you completely silent and undetectable by anyone or anything. Unless you touch them, of course. The charms isn't applied directly to oneself, but rather to an object that is constantly worn. For an extremely advanced wizard, it is possible to turn off elements of the charm when it is being used.

"For instance," at this, Remus touched a knot on the piece of string he had tied around his neck and disappeared. "You should not be able to hear my voice." He said and Harry turned behind him to where the voice seemed to be coming from. "But, having mastered this spell, I have learned to manipulate its effects." At this, Remus fully reappeared, then jumped up and down in a very childish fashion, though Harry didn't hear his shoes hitting the hard floor.

Remus pressed a different knot on the string and began speaking again. "This is what we will be focusing on until you master it completely. Then we'll find you something suitable to place the spell on. You ready?" He asked and Harry nodded before a book 3 times the size of his head flew at him. "Unfortunately, there is ample reading that has to be done in order to get this done. You must read the entire book. Cover to cover. No skim reading, understood?" Remus asked in harsher a tone than he meant. He just knew that Harry had a tendency to skive off on things that he didn't enjoy.

Seeing the dismayed look on Harry's face, s thought suddenly came to Remus. "Here, give me that book real quick. And turn to page 34 on this one." He said and they exchanged books.

Harry read the title on the indicated page, "Memorizing charms", and grinned.

"Yes well. Obviously, this charm will help you read twice as fast as you normally would, and memorize everything. Not an overly simple spell, but I feel you can accomplish it quickly."

Remus' prediction was correct, of course. Harry had the spell down within 30 minutes. Remus was glowing with pride.

"Alright, NOW take this book and read through it. Come to me when you're finished, alright Snufflet?" Remus asked, ruffling the boy's overly-grown hair. As an afterthought he added "You should really think about a hair cut."

Harry laughed "I'm growing it out for a REASON Remy. It may not look too great right now, but when it's as long as I plan to grow it, I think you'll like the look."

"And if not, I'll chop it off while you sleep!" Remus barked at Harry as he exited the room.

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Harry's lessons with McGonagall were going swimmingly well. After about a month of lessons he's sprouted whiskers! Granted they were small and went away withing 2 minutes. But she said that it was progress far greater than anyone had expected. It had, after all, taken his father, Sirius, and Pettegrew years to get it down. McGonagall said that it was probably because they were slackers and teaching themselves, and predicted that it would only take Harry about 2 more months before he got it down.

Harry thought it sounded very unrealistic. "Yes, well. For any other 6th year student it would be. But, you Mr. Potter. You posses a talent far beyond your years. You just need to learn NOT to slack off!" She scolded and Harry had to REALLY fight to not roll his eyes.

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Severus discovered that Harry had a wonderful aptitude for Potions. When he put his mind to it, that is. Which he was definitely NOT doing right now.

"Potter if you do not stop staring at me THIS INSTANT, you'll find you no loner have a need for those appalling glasses!" He snapped, and Harry "meep"ed, before going back to his dreamless sleep potion.

Time to put an end to this.

You rotten old man!

What? He can't concentrate if he's sitting there STARING at me the whole damn time. Besides. It's making me uncomfortable.

You just like torturing him.

Well there's that too.

Prick.

Annoying.

Yea that's right. You're an annoying prick.

Leave me alone.

Snape made an extreme effort to be as nasty to Harry as possible within the next two months, and was positively delighted when he found that Potter no longer had any good feelings at all towards him.

You know Dumbledore told you specifically NOT to use Occlumency on the students.

He'll never know.

Prick.

You say that quite often.

That's because it's true.

Harry's POV

At first, Harry was shocked at the change that had occurred in his professor. He thought they were past the hate. Apparently he was wrong. It didn't take him long to figure out that his professor had discovered his little crush on him and this was his way of telling him to back off. Or else.

Well Harry did just that. He found that it really wasn't incredibly difficult to do. He supposed that he really WAS mistaking his feelings for the man. Oh well. On to new and better things! Like Ginny. She really HAD grown up over the summer.

OK so maybe he really DIDN'T like Ginny. Maybe he just talked about her all the time to piss Ron off. But it WAS an amusing pass-time. He actually enjoyed watching Ron go as red as his hair. Call it payback. Ron wouldn't stop talking about Hermione and it REALLY got on Harry's nerves.

The truth was, Harry was actually VERY into guys. He'd only discovered it with his crush on Snape. He wasn't ashamed of it. Loads of blokes in Hogwarts were flamers. He just didn't tell anyone. It really didn't seem like a pressing matter. Besides. He couldn't WAIT to see the looks on their faces when he finally got with a guy!

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Just as McGonagall had predicted, after those two months were up Harry could fully transform into an animal. Though he could only keep the form for half an hour. McGonagall said that the more he changed, the longer he could stay changed. She didn't say it, but Harry could tell that she was more proud of him on that day than he had ever been before. Testing this, Harry decided to ask her a favor.

"Um. Professor? Would you PLEASE do me a favor?" Harry asked, giving his best puppy-eyes. He should be rather good at it, one would think. Considering the fact that he WAS a puppy when he changed. A small black lab puppy with a white mark on his forehead that vaguely resembled a strike of lightening. He was bit miffed that he was only a puppy. Not a SMALL puppy. Probably about a month or two. But still! He should be a DOG! McGonagall had assured him that as he grew, so would his animal. It was only a matter of time.

"What do you want Mr. Potter?" She asked and Harry gave his best award-winning grin.

"Could you PLEASE let me into the teacher's lounge to see Re-Lupin? Please? I just can't wait to show him! Please?" He practically begged and, quicker than he thought it would happen, she obliged and led the bounding black puppy up to the lounge.

"Professor Lupin?" She asked and Remus stuck his head out from behind a newspaper.

"Yes?" He asked and Harry grinned to himself.

"I have something for you." McGonagall said, before moving aside to let a happy, barking, bouncy puppy-Harry into the room.

Harry looked around and quickly spotted Remus. He grinned to himself again and leaped onto the man, licking his face affectionately and wagging his tail.

"Harry?" Remus asked in delighted disbelief. Harry barked in affirmation. "Why Snufflet! What an adorable little puppy you are!" He said, scratching Harry affectionately behind the ear. Ooooohhh that felt good.

"Disgusting." Snape piped up from the only dark corner in the room and Harry, Remus, and McGonagall all looked over to see the man scowling darkly down at them all. What a party pooper.

Harry barked playfully and bounded up to the man, crouching down and growling jokingly, wagging his tail. His mannerisms practically SCREAMED "PLAY WITH ME!". Snape scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Get away from me you filthy mutt. I might get rabies." He spat menacingly and Harry whimpered. Jerk.

"Aw come on Harry. You were daft for even trying. Snape wouldn't know what the word "play" meant if it came up and bit him in the arse." Remus said and Harry could have sworn he'd heard a small snort of laughter coming from McGonagall.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one. Snape's look darkened (if that was even possible) and he glared daggers at everyone in the room. Harry snickered and stuck his nose in the air before prancing back to a now standing Remus. Well that did well for him. Harry barked once and pounced on the man, effectively knocking him to the ground. "ACK! HARRY!" Remus laughed as Harry began covering his face in saliva once more.

Snape's POV

Stupid little brat. Ruining my quiet time. Of course he just HAD to be a mutt like his god-awful godfather! And of course the first thing he does is run to the werewolf and positively DRENCH his face in saliva!

Jealous?

No! Why would I be jealous??

Hey!

First you won't shut up, then you won't talk?

Oh sod off!

Even though it did not show in his exterior, Severus was shocked when the boy bounded up to him and tried to PLAY with him. Why would he do that? Of course. He was a puppy. He had heard that Animegi(A/N: dunno how to spell it) tended to act like the animals they impersonated. But still. Severus thought that even a puppy would run from the likes of him! He shot off some scathing remark that he knew would hurt the boy and didn't really pay attention to whatever happened afterwards, so lost was he in his thoughts.

At the laughter of everyone in the room when the boy tackled Lupin, Snape rolled his eyes and stormed out of the rooms, his robes soaring behind him in a fashion he knew only he could pull off. He was very proud of this fact.

It was extremely difficult to keep his new skill a secret. Of course he showed Ron and Hermione, but no other students were allowed to know that he had been getting special lessons. He found himself doing things that were very dog-like. He scratched behind his ear quite often, and sometimes found his tongue lagging out of his mouth. He could swear he had fleas at one point. He just couldn't stop itching! Sirius was right! The fleas WERE unbearable! He even found himself barking when he laughed, much like Sirius himself did. His friends found his new habits immensely amusing. He was glad SOMEONE was getting a laugh out of it.

As for Snape. Well. He was becoming even MORE unbearable, if you can imagine that. He constantly referred to Harry as "mutt". Everyone but Hermione, Ron, and himself assumed it was meant to make fun of the fact that his mom was part muggle. He picked on him more and more and deducted even more house points than usual. Harry never even messed up his potions anymore! So Snape would INVENT reasons to get him into trouble.

"Potter! You finished 10 minutes before you were supposed to! 5 points from Gryffindor!" "Mutt! You put too much potion in the bottle! 10 points from Gryffindor!" Needless to say, it was becoming quite ridiculous.

One Monday night, when Snape had been particularly nasty, Harry decided that he'd had MORE than enough. "All right! That's it! Look, you can stop it, alright? I know you started this because I'd had a crush on you but I don't anymore, already? You can STOP. It's childish and annoying. I know you're a nasty person, but no one expected you to go this overboard, just to ensure that a student didn't feel any type of affection towards you. You wanted me to hate you and you succeeded in that within the first two weeks of trying! So just QUITE IT ALREADY!" So lost was he in his spouting off that he didn't realize he had made every table in the Potions Lab float 3 feel off the ground.

Snape, however, did. Forgetting momentarily that he was being yelled at by an insolent teenager, he watched on in wonder as the tables simultaneously floated off the ground and hovered there.

"Um. Professor?" Harry asked, shocked beyond belief that he wasn't physically or at least mentally harmed in some way. What was Snape stari-oh. As soon as he realized what he was doing, the tables dropped, smashing ungracefully to the floor. "Sorry. I sometimes...lose control when I get angry..." Harry said, looking at the ground, fully expected to be hit with some kind of nasty curse.

But nothing happened. Instead, Snape righted the tables and asked thoughtfully. "You can do wandless magic?"

"Yes. I thought everyone could?" Harry asked and Snape shook his head.

"No no. Very few wizards posses that ability. I myself," here Snape paused to wave his hand at the papers and smashed ink well that had fallen to the floor, which all promptly righted themselves "Am very practiced in this area." He finished.

"Oh joy. Yet another thing that sets The-Boy-Who-Refused-To-Die apart form everyone else." Harry said, wanting nothing more than to bang his head repeatedly into the desk nearest him.

"Yes yes I know you're exceedingly happy to know that you're better than most others in yet another department Potter." Snape said menacingly "Of course famous Harry Potter is probably going to jump at the chance to brag to all his little half-wit friends that he-"

"Stop it! Just stop it! You have NO idea what you're talking about you greasy old prick!" Harry gasped and slapped his hands over his mouth in horror. Had he just said that?? To a teacher? Oh shite. He was in trouble now...

"50 points from Gryffindor Potter! And you're lucky you have these lessons or it'd be detention for the rest of the school year!" Snape snapped and Harry was furious! He'd goaded him on! He never would have yelled at him if Snape hadn't gotten him so riled up!

"Well it's your own fault you terribly slimy evil git! You goaded me on!"

"Don't you DARE speak to me in that tone Potter! I'll have you cleaning bed pans for the rest of your school career, do you hear me? BY HAND!" Severus all but roared.

"That's quite enough, Severus." came Albus' voice from the doorway and both heads snapped up to look at the old man standing there. Neither of them had heard him enter.

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